Category Archives: US News

Workers inside Department of Education say Trump’s latest bid to dismantle agency ‘makes no sense’

Posted on by

‘Morale is completely lost,’ say workers as Trump administration strips some programs and transfers others

Donald Trump’s bid to gut the US Department of Education “makes no sense”, according to workers inside the federal agency, who accuse the administration of trying to make their lives “as difficult and traumatic as possible”.

Three employees inside the department spoke to the Guardian, with one warning that morale has been “completely lost”, 10 months after Trump returned to the White House. All requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

Continue reading...

Bay Area’s poverty soared, data shows, as California’s top earners saw windfalls

Posted on by

Poverty rate jumped from 12.2% to 16.3% in 2023 in state, Tipping Point Community report finds

Newly released data found that the San Francisco Bay Area’s poverty rate soared from 12.2% to 16.3% in 2023, with an approximate total 1.02 million residents in this six-county region considered impoverished by year’s end.

Another 12.5% of residents – about 790,000 people – hovered on the brink of poverty, meaning that about three in 10 Bay Area residents struggled to cover basic expenses.

Continue reading...

Tears and solemnity at Cheney funeral – but no memorial for those killed in Iraq

Posted on by

Great and good pay tribute in Washington but honouring of former vice-president was an exercise in omission

You suspected that Maga had not conquered the Washington national cathedral when Bill Kristol was spotted at a men’s urinal conversing with Chris Wallace. You knew it for sure when James Carville, Anthony Fauci and Rachel Maddow were seen sitting close to one another in the nave.

The funeral of the 46th US vice-president, Dick Cheney, who died earlier this month aged 84, was a throwback to a less raucous and rancorous time. Ex-presidents and vice-presidents, Democratic and Republican, made small talk, but Donald Trump, who spent Thursday crying treason and calling for Democrats to be put to death, and his deputy JD Vance were not invited.

Continue reading...

Pelosi calls Trump ‘the biggest con job in American history’ in reply to climate comment

Posted on by

US speaker emerita criticizes Trump’s anti-climate stance and his remarks to the UN general assembly

“President Trump is the biggest con job in American history,” said Nancy Pelosi, the US speaker emerita, to reporters on Thursday while criticizing his anti-climate agenda.

Donald Trump told the UN general assembly in September that the climate crisis was “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”. But he was “projecting”, Pelosi said at a press conference. The meeting was convened by Democrats on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to comment on the US’s official absence from the United Nations Cop30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, where 195 countries are represented.

Continue reading...

Documents reveal Gerald Ford’s effort to block report on CIA assassination plots

Posted on by

Release of documents comes amid conjecture Trump may have authorized the agency to assassinate Venezuelan president

The White House under Gerald Ford tried to block a landmark Senate report that disclosed the CIA’s role in assassination attempts against foreign leaders and ultimately led to a radical overhaul in how the agency was held to account, documents released to mark the 50th anniversary of the report’s publication reveal.

The documents, dating from 1975, were posted on Thursday by the National Security Archive, an independent research group, as it sought to highlight the report’s significance amid conjecture that Donald Trump may have authorized the agency to assassinate Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, amid a massive US military build-up against the country.

Continue reading...

US in talks to attend G20 summit after initial boycott, South Africa says

Posted on by

Cyril Ramaphosa says US has had ‘change of mind’ but does not confirm Trump’s attendance in Johannesburg

The US has changed its mind about attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa’s president has said, without confirming whether Donald Trump, who had said the US would boycott the event, now wanted to come.

Trump has claimed that South Africa racially discriminates against the minority white Afrikaner community, which led the country during the apartheid regime that ended in 1994.

Continue reading...

Justice department has 30 days to release all Epstein files after Trump signs bill – US politics live

Posted on by

Trump attacks Democrats as he seeks to shape the narrative surrounding his links with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

In his latest post to Truth Social, Donald Trump has criticised Jimmy Kimmel again. Describing the late-night host as a “bum”, Trump called for him to be taken off “the air”.

Late-night hosts, including Kimmel, recently celebrated the congressional votes to release the Epstein files and decried Trump’s warm meeting with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

Why does ABC Fake News keep Jimmy Kimmel, a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS, on the air? Why do the TV Syndicates put up with it? Also, totally biased coverage. Get the bum off the air!!!

The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.

The CDC is beginning to acknowledge the truth about this condition that affects millions, disavowing the bold, long-running lie that ‘vaccines do not cause autism.

Continue reading...

Trump and Mamdani to meet in Oval Office on Friday after months of bickering

Posted on by

President has previously criticised the New York City mayor-elect, labelling him a ‘communist’ and threatening to deport him

Donald Trump has confirmed a long-awaited meeting with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will happen in Washington this week, setting up an in-person clash between the political opposites who for months have antagonised each other.

The sit-down, which Trump said on social media would take place on Friday in the Oval Office, could possibly represent a detente of sorts between the Republican president and Democratic rising star.

Continue reading...

Rabih Alameddine wins National book award for fiction with darkly comic epic spanning six decades

Posted on by

True to his irreverent style, author of The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) thanks his psychiatrist, his gastrointestinal doctors and his drug dealers

Rabih Alameddine has won the National book award for fiction for The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother), a darkly comic saga spanning six decades in the life of a Lebanese family.

The novel, which traverses a sprawling history of Lebanon including its civil war and economic collapse, is told through the eyes of its titular protagonist: a gay 63-year-old philosophy teacher confronting his past and his relationship with his mother and his homeland.

Continue reading...

Trump signs bill to compel release of more Epstein documents

Posted on by

President attacks Democrats in post on Truth Social after US lawmakers swiftly move bill through Congress

Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday directing the justice department to release files from the investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, surrendering in the face of joint pressure from Democratic opponents and the president’s conservative base.

The signature marked a sharp reversal for Trump, who had the authority as president to release the documents himself, but chose not to.

Continue reading...

Top judge resumes contempt inquiry into Trump El Salvador deportations

Posted on by

James Boasberg demands sworn testimony to determine whether US officials defied March court order

A federal judge on Wednesday said he was resuming his long-stalled court proceeding to determine whether Trump administration officials willfully violated a court order by deporting hundreds of men to El Salvador in March.

US district judge James Boasberg said he would demand sworn testimony from administration officials to determine whether they defied his March court order to turn around aircraft that were removing the men from US territory.

Continue reading...

Saudi Arabia releases US retiree jailed over critical tweets

Posted on by

Saad Almadi’s family thanks Trump and state department as announcement comes after meeting with crown prince

Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow US citizen Saad Almadi to return home to Florida, five months ahead of the scheduled lifting of travel restrictions and a day after Saudi crown prince and prime minister Mohammed bin Salman met Donald Trump at the White House.

Almadi, 75, was sentenced to 19 years of incarceration in the kingdom in 2021 after he wrote 14 tweets critical of the Riyadh government. Two years later, the charges were reduced to so-called “cyber crimes” and he was sentenced to a 30-year ban on leaving Saudi Arabia.

Continue reading...

US charges ex-Olympic snowboarder turned drug kingpin with murder of witness

Posted on by

Unsealed indictment says Ryan Wedding tracked down witness who was then murdered before he could testify

US authorities have charged a fugitive former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned drug kingpin with the murder of a witness who was prepared to testify against him.

The attorney general, Pam Bondi, said on Wednesday that Ryan Wedding was accused in a newly unsealed indictment of tracking down a witness in Colombia who was then murdered before he could give evidence.

Continue reading...

Harvard to investigate Larry Summers’s Epstein ties as he exits OpenAI board

Posted on by

Newly released Epstein documents drag the ex-treasury secretary into deeper scrutiny as Harvard widens its review

Harvard is set to launch a new investigation into former university president and Bill Clinton economic adviser Larry Summers about his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as it also emerged Summers has resigned from the board of OpenAI.

The moves comes after Summers said he would be stepping back from public engagements after emails revealed the extent of his relationship with the late sex offender.

Continue reading...

Pope Leo condemns US’s ‘extremely disrespectful’ treatment of immigrants

Posted on by

Pontiff backs statement by US bishops condemning raids and mass deportations under Trump administration

Pope Leo has reiterated his disapproval of Donald Trump’s immigration policies, saying foreigners in the US are being treated in an “extremely disrespectful way”.

Leo, the first US pontiff in the history of the Catholic church, made the remarks in response to questions about a statement adopted last week during a special assembly of US bishops that criticised the Trump administration’s mass deportations and lamented the fear and anxiety caused by immigration raids.

Continue reading...

Owl described as ‘fighter’ set to fly free after falling into cement mixer in Utah

Posted on by

Staff at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab spent days cleaning the concrete-covered great horned owl

An owl found partially encased in concrete after it got inside a cement mixer in south-western Utah is expected to fly free again after it was painstakingly cleaned by animal sanctuary workers who described the bird as a “fighter”.

The great horned owl was found at the Black Desert Resort in the south-western part of the state and arrived at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, earlier this month with its face, chest and right wing covered in dried concrete. After making sure the bird could breathe, sanctuary workers spent days cracking apart the concrete using forceps and cleaning its feathers using toothbrushes, dish soap and their fingers.

Continue reading...

Senate agrees to pass Epstein files bill after near-unanimous House vote | First Thing

Posted on by

The bill’s support in the House and Senate is a rare moment of bipartisan agreement. Plus, Trump shrugs off Khashoggi murder during Saudi prince’s visit

Good morning.

The Senate moved swiftly yesterday to approve legislation that would force the release of investigative files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, hours after a near-unanimous vote in the House, almost wrapping up a bipartisan effort Donald Trump had fought for months.

How did we get here? The Epstein case returned dramatically to the public eye in July, when the justice department and FBI released a memo saying they had nothing further to disclose about the investigation. That contradicted statements that the administration would release more information about Epstein in office.

Why has Trump been unable to escape this case? The Epstein scandal is a core issue for a swathe of Trump’s rightwing base, some of whom believe in conspiracy theories that surround Epstein and his coterie of powerful friends. Unlike many other issues, the Epstein files have prompted rebellions from Trump’s supporters.

Continue reading...

Trump shrugs off Khashoggi murder during Saudi prince’s White House visit

Posted on by

US president also claims Mohammed bin Salman ‘knew nothing’ about murder of journalist

Donald Trump has shrugged off the Saudi regime’s 2018 murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, saying the journalist was “extremely controversial” and unpopular, dismissing the killing by observing “things happen”.

The US president made the remarks at the White House on Tuesday while welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the first time since Khashoggi’s murder and dismemberment in Istanbul by Saudi state operatives.

Continue reading...

How did your representative vote on releasing the Epstein files?

Posted on by

US House today voted on the release of government files relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Find out how your representative voted

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that will force the release of investigative files related to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, after Donald Trump and his Republican allies backed down from their opposition amid a scandal that has dogged the president since his return to the White House.

Though Trump has for months dismissed the uproar over the government’s handling of the Epstein case as a “Democrat hoax”, he signaled his support for the House bill over the weekend, and said he would sign the measure if it reaches his desk. Here is how the House voted.

Continue reading...

US perpetrators must face ‘same consequences’ as Epstein’s UK associates, congressman says

Posted on by

Thomas Massie urged accountability amid House vote and renewed calls for former prince Andrew to testify

The “same kind of consequences” faced by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein must be inflicted on “perpetrators of heinous crimes” linked to the disgraced financier in the United States, a congressman has said.

Thomas Massie, a Republican representative, also pointed to the sacking of Peter Mandelson, the UK’s ambassador to Washington, as an example of the fallout faced by those with ties to the late pedophile.

Continue reading...